Thursday, August 11, 2011

Girl with a Grill

Something about this picture makes me wanna scratch my balls and hock a loogey across the yard. Obviously I don't have balls to scratch, but I can hock a loogey like the best of them.

I love grilling food. Grilled food is the greatest tasting food. And not to offend you gas grillers, but charcoal is the only way to go. It's just got so much more flavor. People were always surprised when they'd come to my house and see that I was in charge of the grill. As if women can't man a grill. If you tell me I can't do something because I'm a girl, I will prove you wrong in a heartbeat. And grilling I can do. And I can do it well. You need 10 steaks, each cooked differently? Well, why didn't you just say so?? I gotchu! Don't let grilling scare you girls, it's not just for the boys and it's kinda hot to see a woman behind a grill. At least I think so!

Here's What You Need:
Leg of lamb, trimmed of fat and cubed
10 cloves of garlic, minced (or more...the more the merrier)
2 tablespoons of chopped rosemary
2 tablespoons of chopped thyme
1/8 cup of olive oil
1/8 cup of red wine
salt & pepper
kebab skewers, soaked for 20 minutes in water if they are wooden so that they don't burn on the grill (or if you're schmancy pantsy, use rosemary sprigs as your skewers...adds more flavor and flavor is GOOD)
Pita bread, warmedTzatziki sauce

Here's What You Do:
In a ziplock back, combine lamb, garlic, rosemary, thyme, olive oil and red wine. Marinate overnight. If you don't have time to marinate that long, at least give it 5 hours. When you are ready to eat, light your grill. I use a charcoal chimney starter so that I don't have to use lighter fluid anymore. It makes your food taste like chemicals, and who the hell wants that? Once your charcoal is ready, salt and pepper your lamb kebabs and thread them onto your skewers. Cook over medium high heat for about 4 minutes per side. Take them off when they are cooked to about medium or medium rare. Here's a great way to determine the done-ness without cutting into the meat and draining it of all its juices. Serve with warmed pita and tzatziki sauce.

You can use this marinade with chicken kebabs and veggie kebabs too. It's good on just about anything. I made these kebabs at a house party once and there were literally 10 people crammed into my small kitchen, ripping meat off of skewers with their teeth like cavemen, grunting and moaning about how great it was. So try it at your next party. It's nice to see your friends turn into animals. It's even nicer to hear them rave about how awesome your food tastes!